Another Shot
by Necro13
Summary: He took a shot for Star's disappearance. Another for each failed mission. One for each death. And a few more for the lonely eterenity ahead. Based on 'How long is forever'
1. Chapter 1

_**Another Shot. **_

Summary: He took a shot for Star's disappearance. Another for each failed mission. One for each death. And a few more for the lonely eterenity ahead. Based on 'How long is forever?'

Alright while this is based off the episode 'How long is forever?', it differs greatly to the point where its only loosely based off the episode. While the basics are there and once Star gets here it starts where the episode starts, it does differ greatly if only for the fact that its going to be very dark and some characters (like probably Nightwing in the present time since like the summary suggests, I made him an alcholic) will be kinda outa character and not really like they were in the episode (hint hint Nightwing.). And I did give a boost to the time that Star disappeared, in the original episode it was only 20 years but I changed it to 40 years, you'll see why as the story goes on. And yes there is going to be allot of angst from all the Titans and there will be quite a few main character deaths, so if you're really against that please don't read.

Chapter one.

-Present time, 38 hours before Starfire's returns-

Dick Grayson, aka Nightwing, sat ontop of his mentor's grave stone vigilant as ever staring off into the empty tomorrow dark lines corrupting his vision of the dead graveyard as the wind picked up behind him blowing his long ebony hair askew. He watched silently as the gate flapped vilonletly, loud bangs inturrputing the silence. Creaking hidges complaining loudly making Dick's headache rise. Slowly he drew a pure silver flask with his name engraved in the bottom from his leather jacket's pocket.

"Here's to you, Bruce," he said quiety glancing down to his mentor's name pausing the flask's opening at his lips as he added silently,"And all the good you did for our home..."

Truthfully, Gotham hadn't changed. It was a hellhole before Batman came and it was a hellhole now. The only real difference was the psychos overflowing Arkham who escaped what seemed like nightly. _Though one could argue that since the Joker died, things have gotten a tad bit calmer. Or I have deluded myself into hoping that atleast... _

"Getting yourself so drunk you can barely see straight will not bring him back," the older yet still as firm as ever voice of Babera Gordon called from just outside the graveyard.

"You know," Dick said taking another chug from the flask staring up into the smog filled sky with a small window to the stars,"I haven't gotten that messed up in awhile. I think my body is adapting to the poison...you think maybe in another few years I should turn to drugs?"

Babera rolled her eyes not wanting to know if her only friend left was joking or not,"You really want to tell the chief of police that you're thinking of turning to drugs?"

"I could always wait till you're dead you know," he said not bothering to look down from the sky,"You're about to turn fifty eight, old woman. And after you croak I can do whatever I want with my body that won't die anyway."

"Who are you calling old?" she snared hands on her hips breathing a grey hair from out of her line of sight,"You're only a year younger then me."

"According to that waiter the other night you're my grandmother," Dick said with a chuckle; he loved pushing her buttons. It was the only thing in this world worth while anymore...

"If I was your grandmother I would have raised you to respect your elders," she snapped walking over to the grave and frowning when she realized she didn't have a flower to lay in respect. But at least she wasn't disturbing the grave sight by louging on its marker like _some_ people she knew, she scoffed to the thought. In a few more years it would be her grave he probably would be shooting up on just to piss her soul off.

"Do you think its possible to bring people back from the dead?" he asked out of the blue, casuall as ever, head still pointed skywards.

"Its possible as anything else but you already knew that," Babera responded just as calmly taking the flask from him and taking a long swig figuring it was going to be a long night, but then again, wasn't ever night a long night in Gotham?

Dick chuckled taking the flask back from his friend taking a swig from it himself, "Do you think any of them would like it if I brought them back?"

"No, you know as well as I do they want to left in peace," Barbera responded firmly looking to the 'young' man who kept his eyes skyward. She wondered how many times she had already had this same conversantion with him but it never seemed to stick with him.

"Bruce might appreciate it to become Batman once more," he said making Barbera sigh. She hated nights like this. The nights where she could practically hear his thoughts blaming him for the deaths he thought he had caused.

"You're Gotham's protector now and you said it yourself along time ago...he always wanted to pass the mantle onto you. Let it go, Dick. Just let it go. Maybe Bruce is happier where is now. Lord knows he was never that happy on earth..."

Dick took another drink and opened his mouth to argue but she instantly stopped the arguments with a change in subject.

"You're leaving tomorrow morning?" she asked looking towards him and he finally let his head fall; bright blue eyes bearing into her as he nodded.

"I need to make sure no one killed themselves in Jump," he said slowly taking in Babs's frail features fully for the first time realizing he was soon going to be alone. One of the last friends he had speaking terms (and wasn't well..._dead_) with was soon going to be Bruce's roomate. He took another long swig of his poison to that thought.

"Their not going to fall over dead if Nightwing doesn't come to check up on them," Babs said looking away from him once more as that look of regrett settled on his still young as ever features.

"I thought that about allott of people," he grumbled looking skywards once more surpressing the memories,"But when I wasn't there to help them when they needed me. They-"

She could tell he still couldn't say the word. Saying it was as bad as admitting he couldn't do anything to stop it from happening. Sighing she grabbed his hand giving it a comforting squeeze bringing his attention to her once more.

"Don't forget Gotham needs you as well," she said softly squeezing his hand tighter,"And so do Jason and Damien and even...me. You have an obligation to keep us alive till our exporation date too you know."

He responded with a firm squeeze silently vowing not to allow anything to happen to them either. The last couple of people he cared about...he squeezed his eyes shut. He wouldn't allow them to die as painfully and violently as the others. That was a promise he would do anything to keep.

"You could always reconcile with them," she said finally releasing his hand taking a step away from the grave.

"Its not that easy after all that's happened," Dick grumbled, "But maybe your right...maybe I'll try to reconcile this time around..."

"If it will get you to stop agnsting all the time," she said glancing over her shoulder with a smirk across her lips watching his awkward smile spring to life.

"Hey Babs..."

"No," she said curtly turning away from him walking back to the gates of the cemetary calling over her shoulder,"Immortallity is only fun for those who still have youth left."

"How about the fountain of youth then?" he tried smiling not actually sure if that existed. Maybe he would consider looking for it, he did have all eternity to do whatever he wanted...

"And be as bitter as you for the rest of time? I don't think so." With that she left leaving Dick alone with his long dead mentor. He watched her leave, an empty feeling began growing inside him that he couldn't place. As the wind began to pick up, he could only imagine what the rest of eternity would be like with the only familiar face left being Slade. He shook the thought away looking down to his mentor's grave.

"Bruce," he said softly his voice overshouded by the blazing wind gradually picking up,"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for every thing." He took another long swig finishing off the tequilia taking another long look into the empty tomorrow ahead of him. After a few more minutes he hopped off the grave stone and paused to stare at. The wind shoving his hair once more into his line of sight but he'd read the words graved into the stone enough times to know what it said even with his hair blocking his vision.

He turned to leave pausing once more at the entry of the graveyard to call over his shoulder,"Bruce, if you meet Star in the afterlife could ya tell her I'm sorry I couldn't save her from whatever fate happened to her?"

He sighed under his breath squeezing his fists as he felt his familiar anger and regrett about not being able to protect her. About not being able to help them. Not being able to save the long list of casulaties. Not being able to save himself from Slade...

He snarled desciding he could use another shot of anything...

.

.

.

In the shadows of an alley way, a dark figure chuckled lowly watching the boy he called appentice walk into a dirty bar in the bad side of town where the bar tender already had three shots lined up for him. He conisidered taking off his mask and joining him but descided he didn't want to fight with him tonight. He supposed he could wait for the boy to turn on his own accord. After all, they had all eternity to play this game of cat and mouse.

...(end of Chapter one)...

Just to throw it out there, I'm not sure if Barbera Gordon became a police chief in the comic canon. I know for a fact she did in Batman Beyond so I'm going to go with it...if only for the fact that I love badass old women who lead the police (blame Legend of Korra's awsome Lynne Beifong for that obsession). And yes, Nightwing is an immortal who happens to be an alcholic in this story. I wasn't joking when I said it was only loosly based off the episode. I know what your thinking: Oh, Necro13! How could you let something like this happen? Wasn't Nightwing the only one who was kinda happy in the episode? And if you're going to change things you better have a good excuse to make things like this!

My answer: You'll have to wait, dear reader. I'll explain everything as best as I can. And, why would I make Dick Grayson's future happy? He's my favorite character and as my favorite character, he's going to be tortured! Cause that's the kinda fan girl I am! -evil grin-.

AND...don't forget to review.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Another Shot. **_

Chapter two

-40 years prior, 72 hours since Starfire disappeared-

Robin closed his eyes to that single eye focussing on him from all sides of the room and took a deep breath. For once Slade had nothing to do with this. It was a criminal named Warp who had Starfire but where he took her and how he could get her back where answers he didn't have. For once he wished Slade was behind this, he may not have much on Slade but he deffintantly knew more about him then he did about Warp.

At the moment he stood behind the counter of his personal work space in the tower decorated in pictures of the man who haunted his dreams; trying and failing to find a lead on where Starfire was. Three days without rest and he still had nothing.

"Where are you Star?" he grumbled to himself speaking for the first time in hours as he went over the only evidence he had at the moment. Security camera snipets of the fight and Warp breaking in, samples of the still frozen ice that kept the guards in a frozen tomb and a glass shard that had fallen off of Warp's devise. Nothing more. Nothing helpfull in telling him where Warp was or what he did with Starfire. If he simply took her to the future and nothing more, wouldn't she be back by now? Couldn't she have stolen a time machine after defeating the villian on her own and come back to them? Had Warp overpowered her and done something to her? He didn't want to dwell on those kinda thoughts, but anything was after all possible. There was always that .01 percent possiblity and he had been taught to never over look even the smallest, most seemingly impossible possiblity; no matter how much he didn't want it to be possible.

He snarled under his breath a sudden bought of rage striking hard inside him at his lack of progress. With one swift montion he knocked everything off the counter space. A loud shattering filled the room as the glass exploded on the floor and liquid he had been testing for different cases bled into the carpet leaving a large permant stain, that threw away weaks of research as to who was behind a string of robberies...he didn't care though. He kicked over a file cabinet not far from the counter as another bought of rage stuck its nails into his self control, the drawers bounced out of it landing halfhazardly near his feet; paper work for different cases raining across the room.

He clenched his fists taking deep breaths trying to calm himself down so he didn't destroy more evidence or research. One breath. Two breath. As the rage began to subside, he began to fill rather empty. Was Star okay at the moment? He tried to shake the thought but it only brought up images of people he couldn't save. His parents. His team at the hands of Slade's probes.

_Face it Robin, _he clenched his fists tighter as once more he felt Slade whispering into his ear, _You need me. You need my training. Without it you will only watch more people you care about die..._

A bird a rang then struck Slade's mask dead center from where it perched atop his wall; its single eye slot mocking him. He could practically hear Slade laughing at his failure, telling him how much better he could be do, how it didn't matter any way since she was holding him back anyway. He snarled again clenching his fists preventing himself for going a few rounds against the brick wall.

After a few tense moments passed he released his fists and sighed in defeat rubbing at his blood shot eyes. He'd spent another all nighter trying to find some lead as to where she was but found nothing. Strangely enough he wasn't as tired as he thought he should be; he only felt more determined to crack this case. To find his friend. To prove Slade wrong. But for now, he needed a break before he went berserk on the pictures of the madman eying him obsessively. And he needed coffee so he could begin to think straight to even hope to find the lead he desperatly needed. Glancing at the room that looked like a torando just hit it and left, he groaned loudly. Why did he always let his rage get the best of him?

...TT...

"Any good news?" Beast Boy asked with a hint of desperation in his tired voice as he entered the command center noticing all his friends gathered around the room. He had slept for only about an hour last night and by the looks of his worn looking friends he could tell sleep was their enemy as well. An enemy that all of them had been fighting since she disappeared three nights ago. Beast Boy sighed taking another look around the room.

Raven sat behind the counter with bags beneath her eyes and paler then usual, a book stood straight between her fingers but the page hadn't been turned since she opened it an hour ago. Cyborge sat on the couch with his head resting against the back; blood shot eyes staring to the ceiling; the remote was in his hand but he had yet to turn on the teliviosion. And last but not least, Robin sat two seats away from Raven behind the counter with his head resting on the cool red surface and a slowly cooling cup of freshly roasted coffee sitting beside his head with his fingers loosly grasping the handle. Beast Boy walked straight in front of their leader with hope filled eyes.

"If I found anything," he spat not even bothering to hide the fact that he was ready to strangle the first person who looked at him wrong,"Wouldn't I have told you by now?"

"I was just curriose," Beast Boy snapped back too tired to deal with his anger issues,"I mean you worked with freaking Batman! If anyone can find Star, I figured it would be you!"

Robin bit his tongue to hold back the speech about how just because he worked with Batman it sure as hell didn't make him Batman. Groaning he took a long swig of the warm liquid before taking another deep breath, knowing picking a fight with everyone who came near him was not going to get him any closer to finding Starfire and getting solid evidence out of the wholelotta nothing he had.

"I'm sorry," he said taking Beast Boy back and making his edgy exhausted nerves calm down,"I'm trying. I really am but I can't find her without anything pointing to where she is. The only thing Warp left behind aren't enough to know how we can even get her back."

"So your saying that she's gone," Cyborg said glancing back to the others who all looked away from his gaze. Could they really side with that idea? Give up on finding Starfire, their friend who _needed_ them and inevitably leave her to suffer and most likely die? And if they did find a way to get her back, would it be in time? Would she be alive by the time they got there?

Raven's book snapping shut broke the awkward silence and the grim train of thought as she got up and left the room, mumbling something about needing to meditate. Robin and Beast Boy did nothing more then stare after her as the tv finally burst to life with people who might as well have been talking miles and miles away to the boy wonder. Was he really failing Starfire by not knowing enough? By not being good enough? For not staying in Wayne manor long enough to discover some deep secret from Bruce about how the legendary Batman solved impossible cases with no trail?

The coffee remained half full as he marched out of the room being causiouse as to not step on the beads that she had left there before she disappeared. In fact, he had noticed that everyone was stepping around the fallen beads like they were some kind of crime scene. He supposed that it would be like their shine to her until he managed to get her back. If it meant dragging her from hell and having to fight a thousand demons then so be it. He shuddered as he realized he was more then willing to become Slade's appentice once more to get her back. He needed to crack this case before the villian himself thought he could trick him that way and he was at the point where he was so desperate he would try anything...

...

Raven tried to meditate but couldn't find the consentration to do so. She ended up just lying on the bed staring blankly at the ceiling taking deep breaths to control her emotions and keeping her powers under control. She hadn't felt this way since Slade had taken Robin and forced him to fight them. She felt very lost and had a feeling that she would not see her friend ever again...

She sat up abruptly as half her books shot off her shelf and into the wall next to her bed. Taking another deep breath to get some control back, she looked out the window towards the rising sun. She spent most of last night staring out that window wishing that villians would choose not to capture one her friends right after they had just fought to get one back. Only a weak ago had they all been spending all nighters stessing over what Slade had done to Robin and right after that nightmare was over they step into a second one. Yet, she knew it wasn't the same. They all somehow knew Robin was still alive and that Slade wanted him for something but with Starfire...

She couldn't bring herself to think of the grim fait. Maybe she could think of it for the rest of the universe but not her friend. Starfire couldn't die. Starfire couldn't be tortured into submission. Starfire was coming back. Right? She would delude herself with fairytale endings for the moment. It was the only way to keep her a firm grip on both her powers and her sanity.

...

"Cy?" Beast Boy said after watching both Raven and Robin storm out of the room.

Cyborg looked away from the commercial and turned his head to meet his green friend silently telling him to go on.

"Do you really think we'll never see Star again?"

Silence was the answer to the question. Beast Boy half snarled under his breath to the lack of response. Everyone was acting as if she was already dead and he wouldn't stand for that anylonger. If it was only him who found her, then so be it.

"BB," he paused at the already opened automatic doors,"We may find her and we may not. Dude, Warp took her to another time, possibly another universe. Somewhere we can't just bust into like Slade's lair. No probes will be there to lead a trail to Star. We'll have to be patient on this one and hope more clues arise."

"So we do nothing when our friend needs us?" Beast Boy spat his fists clenching, he didn't want to think of what could be happening to the naive alien at the moment.

Once more the silence was the only answer.

...(end of chapter two)...

Quick question, is anyone even reading this? Is it that bad? I hardly got any reviews for the 1st chapter. I'm sorry to sound demanding or anything, but I'm just curriose if this story is even worth writing. Sigh. For those reading, I did write chapter three and it will be up shortly. And chapter four might come out soon after that...Idk.

And on an unrelated topic, I don't like scorpions anymore. I'm not talking about the band, I still love them. I'm talking about the bug. Got bit by one last night and it hurt like a mother fudger. So if you were planning on moving to a desert...my advise is don't! Its hot and there are scorpions everywhere waiting to bite you! And when they do it hurts!


End file.
